Dolmio (which is a brand of the Mars food company) assured me that “Mars has always been committed to the well-being of all animals”* but “Mars' overriding concern is to manufacture and sell products that meet the highest standards of quality and safety and to satisfy our consumers' needs”.
I don’t know what they are trying to imply with this statement: That free range eggs are not save to eat? There are plenty of food producers who are using free range eggs in there products already, among them Mars competitor Unilever Europe, another giant food producer (brands include Hellman’s mayonnaise). They seem to have no problems producing foods that meet the highest standards of quality using free range eggs. For a full list of food manufactures using free range eggs in their products, see the Website The Good Egg Award.
Mars continues that they are “currently evaluating the situation on the source of eggs used in the manufacturing of our Food products and during 2009 we will commence using barn eggs. This change will take place some years before the legislative date given of 2012.”
A bit of background information with regard to this statement:
- Below a very good link that explains the difference between caged eggs, barn eggs, free range eggs and organic eggs, in case you start getting confuse:
Know Your Eggs?
- Secondly, the EU has passed a legislation that in 2012, the battery keeping of hens as documented in an earlier blog entry is to be banned and will be replaced by so called “enriched” cages, which give the hens slightly more space, a nest and a perch to sit on in the cage. (http://www.ciwf.ie/campaigns/campaign_egglaying.html )
But even this smallest improvement for the caged hens is under threat as the egg industry is lobbying the politicians to further postpone the date. There is also the possibility that the food producers just get their eggs from caged hens outside the EU. Therefore, there is no way around a clear labelling with regard to the source of the eggs used on the packaging. Here my suggestion for Dolmio Express Pasta:
* Mars also owes the brands of Whiskas and Pedigree. Despite the marketing I can assure you that cats and dogs would not buy this pet food. It is of a very low quality and also contains colorants and lots of flavour enhancer, because otherwise the animals wouldn’t touch this mixture of wastage. Rather spend a little more on quality pet food and save money in the long run, because your pets are healthier and happier.
